Vitaly Nakhlupin was sent to a pre-trial detention facility until December 16.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow tooke vice-premier of the Crimea Vitaly Nakhlupin, who was accused of systematically accepting bribes on his official position, into custody for two months. Investigators did not find the money and expressed concern that, at liberty, the person of interest would use the large sums he had received to escape, RIA Novosti reported.

Nakhlupin assured the court that he would not be able to escape the Crimea because he was wanted for state treason in Ukraine. In addition, the defendant referred to a gravely ill child who requires care. The judge ruled on the custody until December 16.

During the trial, the investigation petitioned for taking the former acting deputy of the Crimean transport ministry Valentin Dukorsky and former first deputy chairman of the local competition policy committee of Crimea Yaroslav Slivka into custody.

Nahlupin was detained on Wednesday, October 17. Sources of RBC report that the criminal case is related to road tenders and the construction of the Tavrida highway.

Nakhlupin was involved with issues of socio-economic development of the Crimea, became part of the regional Council of Ministers in January 2016. Prior to that, in 2010, he supervised economic issues in the parliament.